Seven individuals from counties in Texas and Oklahoma are suing their Houston-area employer on behalf of a putative class, alleging Fair Labor Standards Act violations during the past three years.
Brian Barton, Lawrence “Wayne” Bruce, Michael L. Fuller Jr., Dallas Hardaway, Randal “Randy” Hardaway, Kevin Todd Reed, and James Patrick Stewart filed a class action lawsuit Aug. 7 in the Tyler Division of the Eastern District of Texas against Nabors Industries Ltd. and Nabors Industries Inc. of Houston and Express Payroll Inc. of Palestine, claiming unlawful evasion of overtime pay from July 29, 2012, to the present.
According to the lawsuit, the men, employed as welders at the defendants’ Oklahoma City facility within the specified time period, were hourly, non-exempt employees who regularly worked more than 40 hours weekly without being compensated for overtime pay at the standard one and one-half times their regular rate for hours worked in excess of 40 per week.
The complaint states that the Nabors companies deliberately misclassified the plaintiffs, treating them as if they were independent contractors in a willful attempt to elude employment regulations and failing to post notice of payment practices. The action defines the collective action members as individuals who worked for the defendants within the three years prior to the claim.
The plaintiffs seek declarative and injunctive action, actual, liquidated and punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney’s fees, expenses, and costs. The group is represented by William L. Sciba III of Cole, Easley, Sciba & Williams in Victoria.
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Tyler Division of the Eastern District of Texas Case 6:15-cv-00733